Martin Scorsese, the cinema legend, has been in trouble with many movie-goers over the past month. When promoting his film The Irishman with Empire magazine, Scorsese was asked his opinion on Marvel movies. To sum it up, he compared these films to 'theme parks' and said they were not cinema. Now as you can imagine, people were not very happy about this. Marvel fans took to Twitter to slam Scorsese's comments. Some were valid points, many, not so much. Yet his comments have inspired other filmmakers such as Francis Ford Coppola and Ken Loach to make their opinions known on Marvel films, agreeing with Scorsese. The discussion has been going on for weeks, and with a follow up article Scorsese posted in The New York Times recently, we at Shot Blast Media decided to offer our two cents - as both Scorsese and Marvel fans. Scorsese's recent article clears up a lot of his comments and gives them a lot more context than people are declining to notice: 'They are sequels in name but they are remakes in spirit, and everything in them is officially sanctioned because it can’t really be any other way. That’s the nature of modern film franchises: market-researched, audience-tested, vetted, modified, revetted and re-modified until they’re ready for consumption... Many films today are perfect products manufactured for immediate consumption. Many of them are well made by teams of talented individuals. All the same, they lack something essential to cinema: the unifying vision of an individual artist. Because, of [...]

Joker is out in cinemas this week, as indicated by the masses of advertising everywhere. It's surely to be the biggest film of the year, being a film centred around one of the most iconic comic book characters ever. Played by legendary actor Joaquin Phoenix, the film is already getting tons of positive feedback on the film quality - but the film is not without it's controversy. Ever so recently, journalists and bloggers have been coming out of the woodwork to disgrace the film - without it even being released yet. This is mostly due to the idea of the Joker being a threat for many. In 2012, during a screening of The Dark Knight Rises in Aurora, Colorado, 12 people were killed and 70 others were injured by a shooter who allegedly referred himself as the Joker. With this in mind, people are already slamming the new film saying that the violence is extremely bad - and could lead viewers to commit similar acts in real life. Whilst it is fair to say that the Joker is a controversial character, with actors such as Heath Ledger and his portrayal coming under fire after The Dark Knight in 2012, is it fair to judge a film without seeing it? Absolutely not. In fact, there's not a lot of violence that has been shown with the promotional material, if any. This has lead to a Twitter war between those bashing the film, and those who are defending the film until they have seen [...]

It's Emmy season again! A night where the biggest and best TV shows from all over the world fight for their golden statues - a recognition of excellence. There were of course plenty of winners, including a whole host of Brits, including 'Fleabag' and fan favourite of ours, 'Killing Eve.' Yet, there was one very controversial winner at the ceremony, a show that is undoubtedly the most popular show on television, until this year. Game of Thrones. With its final season biting the dust earlier this year, fan were outraged with the botched writing and characters after a host of gloriously received seasons. The fantasy drama took home Best Drama and Best Supporting Actor, along with eight other nominations, ten in total - which many fans were unpleased about. The show's poor reception got us asking questions about the show and what exactly it should be nominated for - should entertainment that has fallen in quality or a lack in, still get the recognition it possibly deserves? There is an argument to suggest that ever so popular shows, disregarding their quality, should get recognition in certain areas rather than the show as a whole. For example, Best Supporting Actor went to Peter Dinklage, who undeniably put in a great performance and did what he could with the notoriously weak writing of the final season. It is also worth nothing that many fans see weakness in the writing above all - meaning that many parts of the show should not be [...]

We hope you're all enjoying your summer! It's been quite a strong summer for entertainment, especially this July. At Shot Blast Media, we've been discussing our favourite summer binges and cinema trips, and we thought we'd pass them by you. So, if you're back from your holiday and you want to fit in some last minute watching, these movies and shows may be perfect for you. The Boys: Season 1 Based on the comic book series of the same name, The Boys may look like just another superhero themed show, but there's a whole lot more to it. Streaming exclusively on Amazon Prime Video, the show tells the story of a world dominated by superheroes, whom behind the scenes all have dark lives and secrets they are hiding. A group of human characters led by the rough and wisecracking Billy Butcher (Karl Urban) join together to exploit the superheroes for all of their dark and dastardly deeds. It is a totally new take on the superhero genre, something that even non-comic book fans could really get into. It's funny, dark and downright absurd. It could be the perfect binge for you! Midsommar The follow up to director Ari Aster's hit horror Hereditary from last year, Midsommar tells the story of a young couple who travel to Sweden to take part in a festival that looks tranquil and harmless on the outside. However, once the characters find themselves on the inside of the festival, they find out that things are not what they [...]

It's pretty much a given that nearly every household has a subscription to a streaming service nowadays. Whether that be Netflix, Amazon Prime Video or Now TV, many people are moving from Freeview and Sky to the affordable nature of one of these services. With the lowest amount being £6 a month you'd be paying for Netflix, its no wonder people are moving from costly networks and deciding to be given new original content every week, as well as classic favourites you've seen before for a low price. Whilst the age of streaming services is in full swing, there are many problems that are starting to arise from the influx in companies starting their own services, and the choice that subscribers have to make. The big question this week is: are there too many of them? Netflix, Amazon and Now TV are the biggest streaming services in the UK, and many would argue that these three are enough. Not everyone has all of them, but in order to get the best exclusives many people subscribe to multiple, to get a bit of everything. Yet, with the success of these services, many companies are looking to get their own slice of the action. Launching at the end of the year comes Disney +, an exclusive new streaming service that will be, you guessed it, Disney themed. This one sounds very exciting. With Disney being able to not only upload tons of their own backlog of content, but also having their [...]

Stranger Things 3 landed on Netflix a couple of weeks ago, and we've been busy binging and discussing the cult 80's Sci-Fi/Horror for ages! It has definitely proven to once again be a hit with critics and audiences alike, but there are a lot of people out there who, whilst liking the show, have found a massive issue with it. Netflix confirmed that due to a lot of fan outrage, they would be cutting back cigarettes and smoking in the next season of the show, since many felt there was way too much smoking in Season 3. We wanted to raise the question, as why do people feel it should be censored, and why now? There are a lot of arguments for and against this case. Stranger Things has a very wide audience spanning from adults to kids. It's very much a family show, with a group of young teenagers being the main focus characters of the show, these characters are a lot easier for kids to latch onto. The show is very tame in the horror aspect, and its comedy side works as a family show. Of course, when characters such as Hopper smoke constantly throughout the show, there's no wonder parents would be annoyed, as it may have an influence on their kids. But there are plenty of other shows that kids watch where smoking is a thing, its something that happens all around kids in the real world too - so why single out Stranger Things? [...]

Stuck with deciding what to watch on TV or see at the cinema this month? As film and TV fanatics, we at Shot Blast Media have been discussing some of our favourite entertainment from last month and the beginning of July. We've decided to share some of our recommendations with you, so if you are planning a media binge or a cinema trip this month, here's some suggestions on what we feel is hot right now. Yesterday When a struggling musician wakes up after an accident and finds out the Beatles never existed and only he can remember them, he decides to write and perform all of their songs - passing himself off as the creator. From this he becomes a superstar, but he soon begins to realise that fame and fortune is not all its cracked up to be. From director Danny Boyle and screenwriter Richard Curtis, this romcom musical is a real delight, for Beatles fans and non-Beatles fans. It has a lot of heart and some superb comedy from the Love Actually writer, that you'll be talking about this for weeks.  What We Do In The Shadows Based on the 2014 mockumentary film from Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement, this show follows a group of Vampires living in modern day America and their daily lives. Written by original creators Waititi and Clement, the show is mad, ridiculous and absurdly funny. Whether its the vampires going out clubbing, turning into bats and being captured by Pest Control [...]

If you hear anything out of Hollywood nowadays, it is normally that another reboot, remake or sequel is coming for an already existing property. Cinemas at the moment are full to the brim with films that have already done before. Disney's 'Aladdin,' 'Godzilla: King of the Monsters,' and 'Child's Play' are just three franchises from the 90's that are being rebooted yet again, with no end in sight. Not only that, but plenty of sequels are arriving, for example 'Toy Story 4.' Other than the odd original idea such as Ari Aster's upcoming horror 'Midsommar,' it is mostly unoriginal concepts that flood our cinema screens. We're here to ask, is that always a bad thing? It's hard to say that seeing an influx of rehashed films is bad, as with most films, people do enjoy them. The idea of nostalgia is crucial here. Many would rather go see something safe such as a new Star Wars film as it is a recognisable brand and if they are already a fan, it's ideal. Yet seeing a new original film may be a risk to some. Paying money for something you're not familiar with? It sounds silly, but for many it seems the case. The problem here is nobody is familiar with it, and the only way that a film like this can get big is if enough people go to see it. Films such as 'The Terminator' were once original films, and now have become big blockbuster franchises. So where [...]

Have you seen 'Rocketman,' the musical biopic about the life of Elton John that people have been going crazy for? We've seen the film here at Shot Blast, and we loved it. Taron Egerton is fantastic as the 'Tiny Dancer' singer, with a lot of Oscar buzz surrounding his performance and the movie itself. Perhaps you've maybe caught up with a few other musical biopics recently, with last years Queen film 'Bohemian Rhapsody' and Netflix's Mötley Crüe biopic 'The Dirt' being huge as-well. These movies have such a big following, and a lot of this is undoubtedly due to their emphasis on telling real life stories of these icons. However just recently, Elton John's half brother spoke out on how 'Rocketman' chose to portray their father. In the film, Elton's father is shown to be unloving and un-supporting towards Elton. His half-brother deemed that this was not the case, and that their father loved them all equally and was always so supportive of Elton's career. This got us thinking about other occurrences of information that has been fabricated or over-exaggerated in these films. It begs the question, is it wrong to change history, or should it be allowed to make a more enjoyable experience for the audience? Another example comes from 'Bohemian Rhapsody,' and how in the film Freddie Mercury is diagnosed with aids before Live Aid, which didn't happen. He was diagnosed afterwards. It is thought that the filmmakers and the remaining members of Queen did this to [...]